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| Electronic Music has gone through many changes over the years. In fact, many of the terms used today to describe electronic music, such as ambient, have entirely different meanings than they did just 20 years ago. I began studying electronic music and synthesizers in 1973, when we had to use patch cords to connect VCOs to VCFs and VCAs to create our sounds, and there was no way to store these patches. This is far from the dawn of electronic music. It will be argued just where electronic music actually began, but I cannot imagine it could have been much earlier than 1874, when Elisha Gray invented the electronic violin (very different from what we know as the electric violin today) and the electronic bathroom. Advances came a step at a time, with electronic devices such as Lev Termen’s (Leon Theremin) self-named instrument in 1919, and the notable performances on it by Clara Rockmore. Maurice Martinot produced the Ondes Martinot about the same time. Armand Givelet’s work with oscillators produced the “piano radioélectronique” in 1927, which, along with Coupleux, led to the electronic organ in 1929. There are also numerous experiments with manipulated tape, alone, and with other instruments, by Milton Babbit and Steve Reich, among others. The first actual “synthesizers” came about in the 40s, derived from laboratory equipment, were massive, filling entire rooms, and terribly expensive. The earliest works on such instruments to be heard by the general public are likely the early works of Karlheinz Stockhausen. The soundtrack to the movie “Forbidden Planet,” composed for the synthesizer by Louis and Bebe Barron was the introduction for a great many to the synthesizer. These new sounds, often making use of atonal music, are disturbing to many, not following traditional scales and melodies. As with all groundbreaking movements, electronic music’s unusual and provoking sounds were dismissed by many as useless noise. Still, the works of Stockhausen, Subotnik, Buchla, et al did find an audience. An interesting aside, is an obscure album (now a CD) by George Harrison titled Electronic Sound. A completely atonal journey into sonic textures, it did not do well with the Beatles crowd used to their melodic songs. The synthesizer is commonly regarded as a keyboard instrument, and that is only partly correct. Initially, the synthesizer was the sound producing unit, and a control unit, like a keyboard, was attached, to signal to the synthesizer when to play a sound, and which sound to play. However, unlike a piano or organ, the keys played did not necessarily relate to a specific pitch. As much of this music was atonal, keys were often mapped randomly to a variety of tones not related to the pitch of the key being played. In fact, numerous other “controllers” were developed. For some performers, these devices were more appropriate for this new instrument. Among them were touch plates, that were basically strips of metal that responded to touch, and could be placed on a custom keyboard, in any fashion suiting the artist. Ribbon controllers, literally a metal strip several inches long, allowed a continuous gliding manner of playing. These strips could be set up to control pitch, or other parameters, such as filtering or resonance, effecting the tonality, called “timbre,” instead or in addition to the pitch. Moving into the late sixties, synthesizers encountered a particularly interesting change. As technology advanced again, notably the introduction of transistors, tremendously reducing the size of these instruments, as well as cost, a new market was developed. Robert Moog created a line of modular synthesizers, using the large array of cables to patch each sound. These were large boxes ranging from two square feet on up. It was in the late sixties, when he created the now famous Minimoog, that synthesizers became largely synonymous with keyboards. These caught on with rock musicians, notably Rick Wakeman of Yes, and Keith Emerson of The Nice, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and reached a new enthusiastic crowd. Synthesizers were now a part of rock ‘n’ roll history. The synthesizer moved from being an artsy, atonal and obscure instrument, into a mainstream, melodic, and symphonic instrument. The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and “Baba O’ Rielly” helped make synthesizers known to the masses. As with all technology, these commercial synthesizers became more complex, at the same time the price came down. Originally monophonic—producing just one note—these synthesizers became Biphonic (two notes) and soon Polyphonic. By 1980, the synthesizer for most popular keyboard players had become the modern organ. Replacing the Vox Continental and Farfisa electric organs were the Prophet Five and the Jupiter 8. Not only can these synths play the electronic sounds they were originally known for, they could emulate a range of organ sounds, string sections, horns, and orchestras to pretty much eliminate the Hammond B3 from the pop/rock scene. The ability to store numerous patches, and recall them quickly, makes these synths remarkable instruments for recording and performance. It is this concept of emulation of other instruments that is controversial to many. It can well be argued that a synthesizer patch named “strings” is not at all the same as a real string section. Likewise, one can argue “If you want a violin, why not hire a REAL violinist?” The counter argument, fairly enough, is that synthesizer strings, as just one example, have a unique character that is different from a real string section, and this has been made into its own unique sound. The strongest argument against emulation of sounds, is that the synth has lost its own unique character. With the removal of patch chords, in favor of presets, and internal patching is also the loss of numerous options. What made the old patch cord synths exciting is the range of patches that could be arrived at, and the opportunity to explore. These later synths tended to cut through a lot of these options, offering quick-and-easy access to a collection of popular sounds, at the expense of experimentation, and wider ranges of subtle textures. There is still a strong movement supporting the unique qualities of synthesis, that is my personal area of interest. Artists like Brian Eno, Klaus Schultz, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Holger Czukay are artists that particularly fascinate me. Modern advocates of exploration and expression include the likes of Aphex Twin, Dust Brothers, Moby, Trent Reznor and Skinny Puppy, to name just a few. There are commercial realities to face here, though. There are numerous keyboard players, wishing to play popular music. There is but a small handful, relatively speaking, of the old school patch cord based synthesists, to justify mass producing such synthesizers. The few that do exist are, understandably, very expensive. The options came down pretty much to either doing the best you can with the current line of commercial synthesizers, or spending a small fortune on vintage synths and their upkeep. An interesting development is the advent of computer based virtual synths. While I was not at all enthused with the initial offerings, with General Midi presets, and cheesy sounds, I have to confess, I am very excited at recent developments. There are a number of developers creating quite a number of software based synthesizers, on several platforms, that are very good. There are a number of VST plug-ins, that work with Cubase, or other VST compatible software, that are software recreations of popular classic synthesizers, like the Minimoog, Prophet Five, OB8, etc. There is also a variety of completely new synths that recreate the architecture of the patch bay synthesizers, allowing a nearly insane range of experimentation, at a small fraction of the cost of the analog versions. The Retro AS-1 and Absynth particularly stand out in my mind. Computers also offer a wonderful variant in sound processing software. From high-end applications like ProTools, to affordable programs such as Sound-Edit 16, or Soundhack, there are many options for adding subtle, or not-so-subtle, textures to existing sounds. Audio can be sped up or slowed down, it can be stretched without altering pitch, it can be mathematically combined with other sounds in ways that must be heard to comprehend. One more set of applications I find useful in electronic music is the area of Granular synthesis. These are sound generation programs that create a section of audio from either standard wave shapes, such as sine, sawtooth, etc., or from a sampled clip of audio, following a set of parameters chosen by the composer. Some of the applications are nearly completely automated, as with Thonk, while others, such as Cloud Generator, will permit a considerable amount of tweaking the parameters, to better control the result. Control, however, may not always be what the composer wants; random or unexpected elements are often a part of such works. Generally, one would edit sections from a much longer piece of granular synthesis, to select parts that are most suitable. All of this is a long-winded way of presenting the options I had to choose from for my own work. I love the traditional patch bay synthesizers I used as a student of electronic music, and I still have some antiques from that era of my own, though in questionable working condition. With the advent of the most recent entries into the software synthesizer world, I am fully convinced this is the area I wish to explore further. Combined with recordings of guitar and voice, and processed as described above, I see limitless possibilities, with modest cash outlay. Personally, I enjoy tonal explorations. The rich qualities of sound that can now be produced, from scratch, or by manipulating and mutilating existing sampled sounds are unbounded. The layering of one sound upon the next, often times nearly inaudibly, permits levels of expression that would have been near impossible just a few years ago. |
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